One of the inconveniences of being among the “displaced”: insurance.
So we’ve found out that our insurance (Humana) only applies to a small number of providers in and around New Orleans. Out of network? Cough up a heafty deductible ($100-500 per person) and pay 30-50% of your services… *if* Humana thinks that services are something they’d like to pay.
(Anyone who thinks privatization of social services is ever a good idea is terribly, terribly wrong. There is a reason that the civilized, healthy, and “developed” countries in the world have Universal health care systems. Why we do not is a question we all should be asking our government on a regular basis.)
Not wanting to be seen as unmerciful, our money-hungry, for-profit, “health” insurer reminded me that we have 30 days where we can see out-of-network providers on their tab. So, I called around and begged to get Will a pediatrician appointment before the end of September. Some challenges: the receptionist who couldn’t comprehend why I wasn’t able to answer whether Will would be seeing the doctor more than once, the nurse who wouldn’t take my word for word for what shots Will had received, and the many staff who couldn’t quite understand why I couldn’t have his records “transfered to their office.” Isn’t anyone watching the news?!
So, Will has an appointment with unknown Doc Castor, Wednesday at 1:30. Wish us luck.
Anonymous | 11-Sep-05 at 10:54 pm | Permalink
we do have universal health care…. go to any ED… if you can’t pay, i guarantee you will get taken care of anyway… and, you will most likely get faster and better care than you would get in any country with “universal health care”…. go figure!!!
Holly | 12-Sep-05 at 10:27 am | Permalink
Yes and no… that pesky hippocratic oath means that doctors are obligated to help those who need help (whether or not they are able to pay), but hospital systems and insurance providers work to make sure they aren’t paying for anyone or anything that they don’t have to. In other words, an emergency room may admit you, but as soon as you’re stable, they are going to do whatever they can to get you out. To my knowledge, attendance for emergency care is no faster in universal care systems or private systems.
Growing up in our nation’s only universal care system (the one offered to for the military and their dependents) we certainly had waits but as an adult in the for-profit health system, none of those waits were longer or more unreasonable than the ones I experience now. And at least then I knew what to expect, knew that it wouldn’t financially cripple me, and understood the system. As I remember, the studies that I was exposed to as a Graduate Student showed no statistically significance in wait times between Canada, the UK, and US for basic services.
I don’t believe that the U.S. offers better care than, say, France, Canada, or the UK — all universal systems. And I believe that this is well supported and documented by plain fact: folks in those countries are one heck of a lot healthier and have better choices for care. Maternity care a great example. In each of these countries, midwives play the dominate role in delivery of normal births and homebirths are paid for by the government. Although it is well documented that home births are _actually safer_ for low-risk women than hospital births and are significantly cheaper, home birth is simply not an option for most U.S. women. Both because of legal challenges (midwifery is illegal in many states) and state laws for reimbursement. (Florida is an exception and most insurances offer reimbursement for any certified medical professional, midwives included.)
Really, the issue falls down on two ideological viewpoints: do you think that those who can pay should get preferencial services, or, do you think that health is a universal right that all should be able to practice? Obviously, I believe in health as a universal. And I believe in a focus on the prevention side of things (usually a cornerstone of universal health systems) — which is in stark constrast to the way we do things here. We spend more (astronomically more) on a person’s last three days of life than in their total life health expenditures. I think that this is a little backward. But I’m getting off the mark.
The bottom line: universal health care simply makes a healthier population. As a public health professional, someone who discusses health within a population perspective, this is my interest and focus. The U.S., as the “super-power” in control of the world, we often get to choose health systems for other countries… and we go with a private system controlled by business. This is disasterous for poor countries and dealing with these types of problems is a big part of my field. So — for domestic and international concerns — I am definitely an advocate of universal health care.